Trump frees leader of group designated as terrorist by Ottawa

After being sworn in on January 20, Donald Trump, the 47th president of the United States of America, unleashed a slew of executive orders and pardons to January 6 rioters, including members and the leader of a far-right organization Canada has designated as terrorists.

After swearing an oath as president and giving a speech laying out his intended goals for the next four years, Trump would use his first day back in office to sign 220 executive orders. If enacted, these orders would end birthright citizenship for American-born children of non-US citizens, and the United States will only officially recognize two sexes (male and female), denying the existence of transgender and gender nonconforming persons.

Trump also pardoned a reported 1,550 rioters from the January 6, 2021 Stop the Steal protest that engulfed the Capitol building.

The president categorized his first moments in office as working to undo the “disruptive, radical executive actions of the previous administration.”

Those to receive clemency include hundreds of rioters convicted of crimes connected to storming the Capitol. These range from trespassing offences to assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy.

Among the many granted a reprieve by the returning president are 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, both violent far-right groups. Seeing sentences reduced to time served, some of these individuals were serving prison terms of up to 18 years for seditious conspiracy, including the Oath Keeper’s founder Stewart Rhodes.

Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was convicted of similar charges, saw his 22-year sentence end decades early. He celebrated with an interview on Alex Jones’ Infowars where he called for retribution.

“We went through hell and I’ll tell you it was worth it,” Tarrio told Jones on January 21.

Canada added the Proud Boys to its list of designated terrorist entities in February 2021, shortly after the siege on the Capitol building. This did not make it illegal to be a member but does make participating or contributing to the activities of a terrorist group punishable under the Criminal Code.

An international fraternity of “western chauvinist” groups founded by Canadian Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys have made headlines on both sides of the border for a variety of reasons, often due to violent clashes with their opposition.

Initially quite active in Canada, a handful of Proud Boys made headlines after showing up in Halifax to disrupt an Indigenous demonstration at the statue of colonial figure Edward Cornwallis on Canada Day in 2017.

Since their debut, men in distinctive black and gold polo shirts have been a fixture at far-right protests around the world, many of which have descended into violence.

The Proud Boys have been a fixture at numerous far-right rallies on both sides of the border but saw its membership take off in the United States, where they have clashed with police and counterdemonstrators on multiple occasions.

The few remaining active chapters in Canada publicly disbanded or have gone silent since the terrorism designation. While some former Proud Boys are currently active in Canada’s far-right, the group’s activity had largely waned even before the listing.

Canada and the United States have taken very different measures when it comes to their approaches to domestic terrorism. While the United States is known for its prolific use of terrorism designations against foreign groups, there is no domestic designation available.

The US has designated far-right groups like the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) and Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) in 2017 and 2024 respectively.

Despite not having designations, the US Justice Department uses terrorism legislation to convict members of the far-right. In September 2024, Matthew Allison of Boise, Idaho and Dallas Humber of Elk Grove, California were charged with 15 counts that included conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

Both are alleged to be leaders of Terrorgram Collective, a network of neo-Nazis that celebrate white mass shooters and encourage others to carry out similar attacks. An Ontario man and former Atomwaffen Division member, Mathew Althorpe, is alleged by the RCMP to have contributed to the Terrorgram Collective.

As noted in a report by the Soufan Centre, the United Kingdom and Canada make the most use of the terrorism designation regarding the far-right out of any of the “Five Eye” countries – a name given to an intelligence agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Canada first designated its first far-right organization with the neo-Nazi gang Blood and Honor, as well as the group’s militant wing Combat 18 as terrorists in 2019. It followed by adding the Proud Boys, the III%ers, the Base and more. At least four cases that include terrorism charges related to the Atomwaffen Division are currently making their way through the courts in Canada.

In nine years, six extreme right-wing groups have been proscribed by British Home Office as terrorist organizations. National Action was the first in December 2016, and has grown to include the Atomwaffen Division, Feuerkrieg Division, Sonnenkrieg Division and most recently, Terrorgram Collective.

Antihate.ca

[Photo: Paul Becker / Becker1999 from Grove City, OH – Creative Commons]


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